Clash of the Mind
by DizniPrinzess
Summary: When Jed kidnapped John he didn't know that John left Astrid pregnant. He sees her a year later at a coffee shop he vaguely remembers and runs into her with no recollection of who Astrid is, but he feels drawn to her. Follow his journey back to himself. Title was formerly "No Recal"
1. Elijah

**Disclaimer: I don't own The Tommorow People or it's characters, nor do i make any profit from it. I'mjust here to play in their world.**

* * *

She was going to kill him. Of course that is if she ever finds him, but right now if she got her hands on him she was going to strangle him and maybe castrate him for good measure.

Pain radiated from her body as she bared down with the contraction. With a deep sigh she flops back onto the hospital bed temporarily relieving some of the pain. She had tears in her eyes as she thought about all that was wrong with this moment. John was supposed to be here. He was supposed to there holding her hand and coaching her through the pain while she yelled at him blaming him for the position she was in. Instead she had Stephen who's eyes were glued to her face in fear of seeing something unpleasant, holding her hand and wincing everytime she squeezed a little too hard.

She once dreamed about this—her and Stephen in the delivery room, but they were older, married and the baby she was working so hard to get out was his. But as it was he was still her friend and in love with someone else. That wouldn't have stung so much if the one she was in love with was here.

She feels another contraction start and yells out. The doctor between he legs tells her to push and push she does with all her might—she really wanted it out. When she feels a pain worse than any other she flops back onto the bed. The doctor tells her she is crowning and needs to push some more.

For a moment she thinks she can't do it—it's all too fast, in fact everything with John was too fast, but with some reassuring words from Stephen and determination she pushes as had as she can until the head is out. The doctor asks her to stop pushing and feels down there—at this point it's all just pain and her sense of modesty is long gone. When she pushes again it's with the determination that it's going to be her last push.

When she feels the baby slip out with a cry and the pressure decrease she can't help the tears of joy. She stares down at her child who is all covered in goo and can't help but feel like it's the most beautiful thing she's ever seen. She just stares at him with a wide eyed expression feeling joy and fear all in the same moment. She made this human being and is now responsible for its very life—a concept she knew and felt when he moved inside her, but now he's actually here.

Once the umbilical cord is cut the doctors put the unclean baby on her chest right above her heart. "It's a boy," the doctor says with a smile.

"Hey you," she says in a shakey voice. He just cries out more in response. "You want back in?" He cries more indignantly. Both she and Stephen, who she almost forgot was there, laugh. "Well too bad." He starts calming down at the sound of her heartbeat until he's completely calmed down.

Astrid takes this time to take in his features. He's got ten fingers and toes, and that button nose all babies have. He's yet to open his eyes, but she imagines that they're that dark blue every baby starts out with. Though he's covered in blood she can tell he has her skin tone, maybe a little lighter. But what she mostly notices is that he completely looks like John. From the shape of his eyes to his mouth — he was like a tiny version of the man who left and it leaves her feelingmore emotional than before. She looks up at Stephen for support. He has a knowing look on his face.

Stephen bends down and kisses her sweaty temple. "You did great." She smiles at him grateful and is about totell him when her son makes a noise.

Her baby finally opens his eyes and stares up at her in wonder. Astrid smiles as more tears leak out of her eyes. "Welcome to the world Elijah John Finch Young." She gently caresses his face, "it's a bit of a mouthful, but I think you'll manage."

* * *

 **Next chapter: John.**


	2. John

John was a simple man with a simple life and a not so simple job, or that's how he liked to think of it. He didn't have a past but he had a present and future that he could make all his own. He didn't like to dwell on things he couldn't change. It wasn't like it mattered, no one was looking for him.

He lived in a studio apartment paid for by Jedikiah Price. It was his consolation prize for losing his memory. If he was perfectly honest it didn't matter that much to him now. The way he saw it his life was perfect. He had a job, one that, despite the gory details, he quite liked, a roof over his head that catered exactly to his needs and best of all his powers. He couldn't imagine his life without them, they're too ingrained in his identity.

John had just finished getting dressed and was about to head out to Jed's lair. Before he leaves he looks at the girl in his bed. He met her at a club last night while he was doing some recon work. He gathered all the information necessary on the subject, Irene Quinn — she was apparently some super genius. She seemed very out of place based on her profile, but she definitely didn't look it. She had dyed her hair from the blonde in the photo he was given to a burgundy red. She wore a tight-fitting black dress that got her the attention she seemed to be seeking. She met a guy and danced with him and when he suggested they move the party to his place she left with him. John read his mind to get the location and let them leave—his job didn't entail him being _that_ creepy.

That's when he met her. She was brunette with blue eyes and tanned skin. Something felt familiar about her so he went to talk to her like he always does when he gets that feeling and just like every time before he took her to his place and fucked her brains out trying to fuck the feeling away. He didn't like it. He knew it was a part of his old self, the one that no longer exists. It never works though, in fact, it gets worse because he finds himself imagining someone else, someone much different than the girl he takes home with curly hair, brown eyes, and cocoa skin. Her face is always a blur, nothing distinct enough for him to identify her, but the feeling he gets is overwhelming and then disappointment soon follows when he reaches reality again. He's too scared to probe what any of it means — it was too complicated and fucked up.

He leaves a note on his nightstand hoping when the girl wakes up she'll get the hint. He has no intentions of stretching this out for more than one night. Sure the sex was good, but he could find another girl just as easy to get the same.

* * *

John walks into the elevator and presses the button for the floor he's needed on. They've grown quite a bit from that small apartment. They now had an underground facility that a small two story clinic sat atop. John found it a bit ridiculous, but Jed had been insistent that they not be visible to anyone. It was a mistake Ultra made that he was sure not to repeat.

Once the elevator doors open he walks into _Khronos,_ a facility dedicated to training paranormal soldiers. John waves to the security guard and walks into Jed's office.

"I still can't believe this place sometimes," John says while sitting in the chair in front of his desk.

"Well believe it because this is just the tip of the iceberg. Once we get more recruits this won't seem like enough space."

John shakes his head. "Speaking of, what's my next move with Irene sir?"

"Nothing, just observe. We need to be delicate when we approach her especially if she's going to lead us to the rest."

"I know that but why her, Sir? So far, from what I've seen she's not even a paranormal."

"Trust me, she has value and when the time is right I know exactly how to get her on our side."

"Alright, I get right back on it." John begins to get up.

"Well you don't need to go just this second. It's still early, you're probably not going to get much."

"I know, but sitting around here with nothing to do isn't exactly my idea of relaxing."

* * *

Jed was right, there wasn't much to observe besides her sneaking out of that guy's apartment. From there he followed her home where she proceeded to pass out again.

He felt a little ridiculous stalking her. This seemed like something one of the lower levels could do, but Jed was persistent about it being him. She was important he just didn't know why—questioning orders wasn't something his job entailed.

A few hours passed before someone comes knocking on her door. Someone he recognizes from Jed's file. He knew he probably should have been smarter in his approach, but he just acted. He knew Jed wanted her and an opportunity like didn't come often.

He teleports behind her and holds the gun up to her.

"Cara Colburn."

She's frozen in place at the sound of his voice. "John," she whispers.

His eye brows scrunch in confusion at the sound of his name coming from her lips. "Do we know each other?"

That snaps her out of whatever shock she was in. "Do we know each other," she near shouts as she turns to face him. The blood drains from her face at the sight of the gun. "John, what's going on?"

"What's going on is you're going to come with me."

"Come with you where?"

"Khronos."

"And that is?"

"Not important right now."

"The hell it isn't. Look I'm not going anywhere with you until you explain to me what's going on and where you've been for the past year. You know we've been looking everywhere for you?"

Confusion momentarily passes over his face before schools his face.

"Come with me or I'm making you."

"You'll make me…by shooting me? This isn't you. This was never you." She says that last statement more quietly to herself.

"I think you need worry about yourself and stop worrying about me."

"I think you should take your own advice." Cara hits John's arm causing the gun to point away from her. She then kicks him out of the way and proceeds to run into the ally and teleport to safety.

John was right on her heels but too late. He wasn't prepared to bring in a paranormal so his usual equipment wasn't there. He swore the next time he'd be prepared.

* * *

John doesn't waste time teleporting to Jed's office. Irene was no longer a priority.

"I just ran into Cara Colburn."

"And hello to you too."

"Cara Colburn."

"Yes, I heard you the first time and I'm guessing by lack of her presence you failed to apprehend her."

"Yeah, but I think we can find her again, but I'm going to need resources."

"Not yet."

"Excuse me."

"Not yet, John."

"But you were so eager to recruit her."

"And I still am, but there's a lot more where she came from and we don't have the man power to take her down. Ultra underestimated her, I'm not making that same mistake. We've already lost the element of surprise, we're not losing more until we're ready for her. Now leave her alone for now and I'm taking you off the Quinn case."

"I don't understand, what did I do wrong?"

"Nothing, I just can't risk you." That piqued his curiosity. Jed seemed way too worried about one paranormal.

"Why?"

"Because I just can't." He thought about his encounter with Cara, she knew him meaning she probably knew Jed. He wanted answers, but knew he wasn't going to get them now.

"You know sooner or later you're going to have to tell me and when that day comes you better hope I'm still on your side."

* * *

Astrid sat in the rocking chair nursing Elijah. She was boned tired at 1:00 a.m. but someone else had needs above her. She felt herself start to drift off when she heard the very distinct sound of someone teleporting in her room.

"Don't you guys ever knock?" she says slightly annoyed.

"I didn't want to wake your parents."

"But felt perfectly alright waking me."

"I'll admit I played the odds of you already being awake, however I didn't expect you to be this exposed."

Astrid snorts. "It's a boob Cara. I expect you of all people to be familiar with them."

"I am just not yours."

"Well get used to it if you're going to keep popping in like this. When you become the human milk machine the need for modesty decreases significantly."

"I get it." Silence lingers for a moment.

"I'm guessing you have news."

"Yeah, but it's not good."

Tears start welling up as she anticipates what comes next. "It's John right?"

"Yeah." Cara takes a deep breath. "The good news is that he's alive, the bad news is that he's changed...a lot."

"Changed how?"

"Well for one, I think he has powers. I didn't see him use them but there's no way he got behind me that fast without teleporting."

"Okay, but why hasn't he come home?"

"I don't think he remembers home."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means I don't think he remembers any of us, at least me. He held a gun up to me, kept trying to get me to come with him to some place called Khronos. When I asked him what happened he kept dodging my questions, but that's not what worried me. It was the way he looked at me like I was a stranger, some job for him. Like shooting me would be the easiest thing in the world."

A comfortable silence forms between them as they contemplate what this all means. Cara at losing him once again and Astrid for a life that seemed always out of her grasp.

Elijah nods off and detaches from her nipple. This snaps Astrid out of her reverie. She pulls up her tank and motions to get up and put him in his bassinet. Before she makes her way over she speaks, "Thank you, for telling me."

"It was only right that you know," Cara responds before teleporting back to the old Ultra building.

Astrid lays Elijah down and softly runs her finger down his cheek. "We finally found your Daddy," she whispers, "Too bad it doesn't mean much."


	3. Astrid

**A/N: I know it's been a while, but I never promised regular updates—I created this account specifically so I wouldn't feel the pressure to update which isn't working out that well. Anyway, this is kinda a short chapter, it doesn't move the plot along that much it's mostly what Astrid has been through since John left. Next chapter which is in the works will continue the plot in the present. Enjoy.**

* * *

Having a baby was an...experience. That was the best way she could describe it. She had prepared herself for the sleepless nights, the diapers, and putting her life on hold because she knew it would be hard work. What she didn't prepare for was how boring it would be and the overwhelming guilt she felt for thinking that. Sometimes the best part of her day was helping her parents out at the shop where she got to interact with people who spoke back. People who didn't need her for everything. The first time she felt this she spent 20 minutes in the stock room crying. Her son was supposed to be the best part of her day, she loved him more than anything in the world, so why was she feeling like this?

When she learned she was pregnant, to say she was shocked was an understatement. She found out later than most, too occupied with worrying about John to take notice of the symptoms. She honestly didn't know how it happened, they were safe, but she guessed she just had to be that unlucky three percent that got pregnant anyway.

She thought seriously about getting rid of him, it was the only logical option. She was 18, about to start college, and her boyfriend was out of the picture. It was a mistake that could be corrected and not effect the complete tragectory of her life, but then she heard him, his heart beat, and she instantly connected to him. It was her baby and she couldn't get rid of him. She knew she had another option, but the idea of him maybe having powers and not knowing what to do with them quickly shot that option. So at 13 weeks pregnant she decided she was having a baby and boy which the ultrasound tech told her when she first went in.

Her pregnancy was hard on her, not just emotionally but physically. She had terrible morning sickness that lasted well into the sixth month of her pregnancy. It got so bad that she had to be hospitalized. Her blood pressure was through the roof and she was diagnosed with pre-eclampsia. That's when she decided she had to stop looking—she had to stop hoping he would come back—it was causing her too much stress.

She asked Stephen to stop giving her updates—it wasn't like he ever had much to report, but she had to purge all things John from her life which was impossible with his son growing inside her, but she managed. She occupied her mind with other things, important things, like what was she going to do next.

She decided that she had to go to community college, it was kind of her plan before but now it was her only option. It was cheaper and more flexible with her schedule as a mother. She would eventually transfer to a university and hoping by then the demands of being a mother would lighten enough to keep up. She was to register next semester.

Along with planning her future she also occupied her mind with the baby and how she was going to take care of him. She started by telling her parents. As much as she hated to admit it, she could do anything without them. She didn't have the means and no one was going to hire a pregnant girl who was going to need maternity leave soon. They obviously weren't thrilled especially when the subject of the father came up, but like the loving parents they were they eventually came around and realized that the wellbeing of their daughter mattered more and now the wellbeing of their grandson.

She turned half her room into a nursery. Some of the things like the crib were things her parents kept from when she was a baby. The clothes she got hand-me-down from the Price's. Almost everything else was taken care of by the surprise baby shower Stephen threw with the help of all of the tomorrow people. She knew most of it was stolen, but that didn't matter, she was just grateful for the baby shower—grateful that someone could celebrate her baby.

She didn't particularly like being as big as a house, especially on days like this when she was rearranging things in her room for both her and the baby—too much up and down movement, her back didn't particularly like. She was sitting on the floor clearing out her closet when she found it—John's lucky leather jacket. She shoved it in there months ago. At first she used to wear it as comfort, hope, especially in the early days of learning about her pregnancy, but hope quickly turned to stress everyday he didn't come back. She thought about burning it—purging all things John from her life for good—but she couldn't go through with it. A part of her knew he'd want it when he came back. Seeing it again after all this time caused her to breakdown in tears immediately. She would like to blame it on the hormones—though they did play a part in it—but she knew that she just missed John—the only person to ever make her feel safe. She laid down on her side curling up into the fetal position holding his jacket to her chest crying. She fell asleep like that.

When she woke up the next day she was determined—determined to move on with her life, from John, from the Tomorrow People. Her son needed her to be strong and present, not to be chasing after a ghost, and she told Stephen as such. They were allowed to come around but they had to keep all things having to do with being a TP to themselves, and they did, until a week ago when Kara told her the news she had been waiting for all year.

She wanted to be happy about it, even celebrate, but in the grand scheme she knew it meant nothing, he was still a ghost—one who would haunt her forever. She wanted to get away from him but he always came back. Like now when she saw him standing outside her Dad's coffee shop.

"Did you get that ma'am?" a customer said trying to get her attention.

"Huh?" she said turning her attention back to work.

"Skinny, non-fat latte with 3 pumps of vanilla." the customer said annoyed.

"Yeah, comming right up," she said dispondantly.

As she went to make her customer's order she took one last look out of the window. He was gone, but she was knew he was actually there by the feeling she felt that had been since missing in his absense. She couldn't help the meloncholic smile that graced her face. _John was really back._


End file.
